Daily Global Rice E-Newsletter
27th September, 2014
News Head Lines
Farmers need better machines KCR asks PM to retain rice levy Mekong Delta Meets 64.2 Pct Of Annual Rice Export Target New blood needed in rice science, IRRI urges ASEAN Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- Sep 26 Big Nigerian Rice Importer Switches to Large Scale Local Production and Processing Rice farmers seek B10,000 a tonne Prayut tells agencies to prime the pump
Contact & Visit www.ricepluss.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com 7th Floor,Suite 11 Central Plaza New Garden Town Lahore-54600 Landline :92 3584 5551 For Advertisement Specs & Rates: Contact: mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com 92 321 3692874
News Detail‌. Farmers need better machines VietNamNet Bridge – The support industry for building agricultural machines is lacking, head of CIEM's Research Department for Rural Development Luu Duc Khai told Countryside Today newspaper. What are the realities of agricultural machine production in Viet Nam? Viet Nam manufactures 30-40 per cent of the agricultural machines used in the country. The rest are imported, mostly from China and Japan. We have not developed agricultural machinery production largely because the country's support industry is at zero. Our support industry meets about 20 per cent of the country's demand, leading to difficulties in attracting investment.We mainly import ploughs, pesticide sprayers, and harvesting machines. Can Viet Nam develop a support industry for agriculture machine manufacturing? One of the weaknesses in the support industry for agricultural machines was that demand was low, so the support industry could not attract investment.
Preferential policies have been developed for support of certain industries - such as computer electronics, and garment and automotive manufacturing - but not to agricultural machine production.In addition, state management of the support industry was weak; the state was neither gathering statistics for nor standardising that area of agriculture.Viet Nam also has had insufficient policies for the industry development, and has been especially lacking in policies to encourage small and medium-sized support industry enterprises (SMEs).Those businesses, mainly SMEs, have had a hard time accessing capital – a problem made even greater because support industry development required a capital amount 4-10 times greater than that of the assembly industry. Experts estimate that the Cuu Long Delta region has suffered an average loss of tens of billions of dong yearly due to the lack of rice harvest and preservation machines. What are your thoughts on the country's policies to support agricultural machine building? In localities, support industry policies haven't "reached" enterprises in that field. The Government's Decision 12 on developing certain support industries in 2011 failed to attract certain support industry enterprises because those enterprises, under the new decision, would be treated like many other SMEs. And as such, those companies would have a difficult time accessing the loans they needed. Therefore, it is necessary to have concrete and practical policies for support industry
enterprises, such as land policy and tax incentives. Farmers also needed direct support, including loans with preferential interest rates or policies for farmers to borrow loans at banks. The government recently adopted an action plan for development of the agriculture machine industry. How will that plan improve the current situation? We plan to increase the country's mechanisation rate in agriculture fields. We have implemented programmes building and maintaining agriculture machines, and we have encouraged farmers to use those machines. With the current internal weaknesses, Viet Nam needs foreign support for the field, especially from Japan, in an effort to improve research and production capabilities. As far as I know, the government will draft a decision to promote agricultural mechanisation, in which a necessary fund from the state budget would be used to support localities towards implementing their mechanisation plans. The government will also set up criteria and technical regulations for farming and production machines, and better tax policies for manufacturers. However, we still needed more basic measures. What are those specific measures? The most urgent measure now is to rapidly modernise technology and to train skilled workers in an efforts to provide as soon as possible products that meet required standards.The Ministry of Finance and the State Bank should develop a financial mechanism that provides favourable conditions for enterprises to access longterm loans with preferential interest rates.I think that it is necessary to encourage all
economic sectors to invest in agriculture machine manufacturing. All of those individuals and organisations field should be treated equally as enterprises investing in rural area.The government should also create favourable conditions for local enterprises to form joint ventures with foreign firms in order to manufacture and assemble highly specialised tractors, as well as machines for harvesting rice and sugarcane. The government also should encourage the importation of equipment that hasn't been produced in the country. VNS/VNN Tags:Farmers,agricultural machines,attract investment,modernise technology, Image: The government will draft a decision to promote agricultural mechanisation -Illustrative image. (Source: VNS)
KCR asks PM to retain rice levy OUR BUREAU The levy mandates the rice millers to sell a fixed quantity to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) or to State agencies at the minimum support price (MSP) HYDERABAD, SEPTEMBER 25: The Telangana Government has appealed to the Union Government not to reduce the rice mill levy from 75 per cent to 25 per cent. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to take up the issue with the Department of Food and Public Distribution.The levy mandates the rice millers to sell a fixed quantity of the rice they process to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) or to State agencies at the minimum support price (MSP). They can
sell the remaining commodity in the open market. The idea is to protect the farmers from the market vagaries.―We have been told that the department has decided to reduce the levy from the 2014-14 kharif marketing season itself. If it is not to retain the earlier levels, please ensure that the levy is put at 50 per cent,‖ the Chief Minister pointed out. (This article was published on September 25, 2014)
during the winter-spring and summerautumn crops this year.
-- BERNAMA
New blood needed in rice science, IRRI urges ASEAN Saturday 27th of September 2014
Mekong Delta Meets 64.2 Pct Of Annual Rice Export Target HANOI, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- Over four million tonnes of rice were exported from the Mekong Delta by Sept 20, representing 64.2 percent of the region's annual rice export target, reports Vietnam News Agency (VNA).Rice exports generated US$1.84 billion in revenue for regional localities, the Steering Committee for the Southwestern region said.Between now and the end of the year, localities plan to export an additional 2.3 million tonnes of rice, bringing the annual total to 6.3 million tonnes. Nguyen Phong Quang, deputy head of the committee's standing board, said the region's trade sector implemented a number of measures to help businesses survey markets and promote their products in Asia, the European Union and North America.He attributed the outcome to the procurement of modern processing lines that improved output and quality, as well as the bumper harvest of 20.6 million tonnes of paddy
NAYPYITAW, Mayanmar, Sept 27 -- IRRI calls on ASEAN to build a new generation of rice scientists and extension professionals. According to V. Bruce J. Tolentino, deputy director general for communication and partnerships, these efforts will help ensure secure and stable rice supplies across ASEAN and the world. The proposal calling for more support for science education and extension was presented during a series of high-level meetings with the ministers and senior officials of the ASEAN Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) on 20-26 September in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Through science education, the aim is to: (1) produce at least 80 ASEAN PhDs, (2) 45 resident scientists, (3) 50 ASEAN
participants in a Rice Breeding Academy, and (4) launch the ASEAN food security forum for senior-level policy- and decisionmakers.Development of extension professionals would be through (1) advanced extension courses for at least 3,000 extension professionals, (2) development of country-specific rice information platforms, and (3) development of an online rice crop forecasting system for ASEAN.
meetings and set up an exhibit that featured the Institute’s work and impact in each ASEAN country. ASEAN cooperation in the agriculture sector dated back as early as 1968, with cooperation in food production and supply. The partnership between IRRI and the ASEAN member-states has been very productive over the past decades and the region has benefited greatly from the research conducted by IRRI. The 2014 AMAF meetings were hosted by the government of Myanmar. (Rona Niña Mae Rojas-Azucena/http://irrinews.blogspot.com)
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- Sep 26 Fri Sep 26, 2014 3:15pm IST Nagpur, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Gram prices in Nagpur Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) reported down on lack of demand from local traders amid good supply from producing regions. Easy condition on NCDEX, weak trend in Madhya Pradesh gram prices and high moisture content arrival also pushed down prices, according to sources.
―Why do we need a new generation of rice scientists and extension professionals? Our farmers are getting old,‖ Dr. Tolentino said. ―In agricultural universities, only a few young people are taking agriculture courses.―We need modern blood to get into rice science for a sustainable future. We need to promote focus on agricultural science education to meet the current and future challenges that threaten our long-term food security goals,‖ he added.
IRRI was one of a select group of international agencies invited to address the
FOODGRAINS & PULSES GRAM * Desi gram raw declined in open market in absence of buyers amid ample stock in ready position. TUAR * Tuar black showed weak tendency in open market on lack of demand from local traders amid profit-taking selling by stockists at higher level. * Masoor varieties reported strong in open market on increased demand from local traders amid thin arrival from producing belts. Weak production in this season reports also activated stockists.
* In Akola, Tuar - 4,900-5,000, Tuar dal 7,100-7,300, Udid at 7,000-7,200, Udid Mogar (clean) - 8,000-8,300, Moong 6,900-7,300, Moong Mogar (clean) 8,300-9,000, Gram - 2,600-2,800, Gram Super best bold - 3,800-4,000 for 100 kg. * Wheat, rice and other commodities remained steady in open market in thin trading activity, according to sources. Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100 kg FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close Gram Auction 2,250-2,940 2,320-3,000 Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,1002,600 Tuar Auction n.a. 3,9304,950 Moong Auction n.a. 5,200-5,500 Udid Auction n.a. 4,3004,500 Masoor Auction n.a. 2,6002,800 Gram Super Best Bold 3,900-4,200 3,900-4,200 Gram Super Best n.a. Gram Medium Best 3,700-3,800 3,700-3,800 Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a. Gram Mill Quality 3,450-3,550 3,450-3,550 Desi gram Raw 2,850-2,900 2,900-2,950 Gram Filter new 3,600-3,700 3,600-3,700 Gram Kabuli 8,400-9,700 8,400-9,700 Gram Pink 7,200-7,400 7,2007,400 Tuar Fataka Best 7,400-7,500 7,400-7,500 Tuar Fataka Medium 7,100-7,300 7,100-7,300
Tuar Dal Best Phod 6,700-6,900 6,700-6,900 Tuar Dal Medium phod 6,400-6,600 6,400-6,600 Tuar Gavarani 4,950-5,050 4,950-5,050 Tuar Karnataka 5,400-5,500 5,400-5,500 Tuar Black 8,200-8,500 8,300-8,600 Masoor dal best 6,900-7,100 6,800-7,000 Masoor dal medium 6,600-6,800 6,500-6,700 Masoor n.a. n.a. Moong Mogar bold 9,000-9,500 9,000-9,500 Moong Mogar Medium best 8,500-8,800 8,500-8,800 Moong dal super best 7,800-7,900 7,800-7,900 Moong dal Chilka 7,700-7,900 7,700-7,900 Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a. Moong Chamki best 7,500-8,800 7,500-8,800 Udid Mogar Super best (100 INR/KG) 8,200-8,600 8,200-8,600 Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 7,1007,800 7,100-7,800 Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 6,7007,000 6,700-7,100 Batri dal (100 INR/KG) 4,000-5,000 4,000-5,000 Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 2,800-3,100 2,800-3,100 Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 3,250-3,450 3,250-3,450 Watana White (100 INR/KG) 3,2503,350 3,250-3,350 Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 4,4005,200 4,400-5,200 Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 1,200-1,500 1,200-1,500 Wheat Mill quality(100 INR/KG) 1,6501,725 1,650-1,725 Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 1,300-1,500 1,300-1,500 Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,1002,450 2,100-2,450
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 1,850-2,000 1,850-2,000 Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a. MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 2,8003,200 2,800-3,200 MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 1,9502,350 1,950-2,350 Wheat 147 (100 INR/KG) 1,200-1,300 1,200-1,300 Wheat Best (100 INR/KG) 1,500-1,800 1,500-1,800 Rice BPT (100 INR/KG) 3,2003,800 3,200-3,800 Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 1,800-2,000 1,800-2,000 Rice Swarna old (100 INR/KG) 2,3502,650 2,350-2,650 Rice HMT (100 INR/KG) 4,0004,400 4,000-4,400 Rice HMT Shriram (100 INR/KG) 5,2006,000 5,200-6,000 Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 10,50013,500 10,500-13,500 Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 7,300-10,000 7,300-10,000 Rice Chinnor (100 INR/KG) 5,200-5,800 5,200-5,800 Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 1,4001,600 1,400-1,600 Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 1,700-1,800 1,700-1,800 WEATHER (NAGPUR) Maximum temp. 35.4 degree Celsius (95.7 degree Fahrenheit), minimum temp. 21.2 degree Celsius (70.2 degree Fahrenheit) Humidity: Highest - n.a., lowest - n.a. Rainfall : nil FORECAST: Mainly clear sky. Maximum and Minimum temperature likely to be around 35 and 21 degree Celsius respectively. Note: n.a.--not available (For oils, transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices.)
Big Nigerian Rice Importer Switches to Large Scale Local Production and Processing Discussion in 'Business News' started by Lequte, Yesterday at 8:07 AM.
A major rice importer and Managing Director of Elephant Group, Mr Tunji Owoeye, during a visit to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has said his company is ready to do large scale commercial production and processing of rice in Nigeria.Owoeye said his company has embarked on $50 million equity injection, and that his company has already done about 1,000 hectares in Moniya, Ibadan, for two seasons.He said his company has also acquired 9, 5000 in Guza and has got approval of another 5,000 ha in Baro, both in Niger State for fully mechanised rice farming, NATIONAL MIRROR reported. ―Because of our position in rice industry, we don’t want to lose that. We take this very seriously. We also want to take over Veetee in Ewekoro, Ogun State.Describing his company as one of the major Growth Enhancement Scheme, GES, supporters of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, he noted that his company and association want to support local producers to continue to produce rice, adding he has already requested for one of the 10 new rice mills the Federal Government has just approved."Whoever does not have short term plan of backward integration will not be allowed in our association. We will not welcome traders from outside, except they are going to invest in production,‖ Owoeye warned.Approving Owoeye’s request, the minister said ―our ports should not be for just letting goods in. Our ports should be for export too. Nigeria should be a net exporter of rice. He also expressed delight at First City
Monument Bank’s ,FCMB’s support for Elephant Group’s rice project.
Rice farmers seek B10,000 a tonne Published: 26 Sep 2014 at 14.17
Rice farmers will ask for 10,000 baht for a tonne for paddy, a level they find profitable, while a survey shows the farm sector is facing an acute labour shortage.Thailand's farm sector is facing a critical labour shortage. A survey found 85% of the subjects did not want their children to work in the sector. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill) They also want 11,000 baht a tonne for Pathum Thani paddy and 15,000 baht for the hom mali variety.Representatives of five farmers' groups will meet with a Commerce Ministry panel on Friday to discuss rice problems."These prices are appropriate as they allow us to earn some profits," Rawee Rungruang, chairman of the Thai Farmers Network, told Thairath Online early on Friday.Since the government's farm policy involving zoning, farm-essentials cost reduction and productivity upgrade takes time to materialise, the farmers are looking for a shortterm relief for the current crop season. The farming cost is now 5,000 baht on average for one rai, which yields 750kg, so they need to farm on three rai to get two tonnes.Since paddy now fetches 8,000 baht a tonne, the farmers get 16,000 baht for three rai, or a little over 300 baht a rai, which is inadequate, Mr Rawee said.And if
the grain has too much moisture, the prices will be even lower, he added.For the upcoming season, the Commerce Ministry plans to help by organising paddy markets, asking millers to pay 100-200 baht above market prices to build stocks while giving them a special interest rate as compensation and encouraging farmers to build their own stocks to avoid concurrent postharvest sales which put pressure on the prices. Kampanat Pensupar, a deputy dean of Kasetsart University's Economic Faculty, said Thailand's farm sector was facing a critical labour shortage.A survey found 85% of the subjects did not want their children to work in the sector.This is in line with the average 5-10% decline in the number of students in the agriculture field, he said."The results are the high average age of farmers and a labour shortage, which together have caused the sector to lag far behind the manufacturing sector in terms of productivity."The farm sector's productivity index is a mere 0.8 compared to 6.6 in the services sector," he said.But before the sector's productivity can be improved, the prevailing labour shortage needs to be addressed first, most likely by legitimising more migrant workers, he said. "In the longer term, the government needs to determine how much more labour the sector needs. Too much will affect productivity,"Poomsak Rasri, director of the Agricultural Economic Operation Centre under the Office of Agricultural Economics, said there were 16 million farm workers in Thailand.He estimated a 3% annual increase in the sector's labour pool, or half a million a year, was reasonable.Migrant workers alone could not meet the shortfall as they prefer the industrial sector.He proposed solutions such as streamlining labour laws to accommodate migrant workers, opening more one-stop service centres for migrant workers' registration, providing more welfare and incentives and
bringing in migrant workers from other countries.Keep up-to-date with the latest on coup d'etat with Bangkok Post SMS News. Call *451391000 to subscribe – 39 baht/month (7 days free, available in Thailand only) Bangkok Post SMS News: Deliver only trustworthy news on SMS
Prayut tells agencies to prime the pump Published: 26 Sep 2014 at 06.58 Newspaper section: Business Writer: Chatrudee Theparat
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has vowed to stimulate Thailand's economy in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 with a budget of 1.2 trillion baht. Gen Prayut yesterday said after meeting with high-ranking officials that all state agencies must speed up disbursement of the outstanding budget for fiscal 2014, worth roughly 160 billion baht, within the first quarter of fiscal 2015, which begins next Wednesday.The premier told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that the government would accelerate spending, especially on small-scale projects, in a bid to boost the economy during the last quarter of this calendar year. The fiscal-2015 budget amounts to 1.26 trillion baht — 160 billion in leftover budget from fiscal 2014 and 1.1 trillion to be allocated in the fiscal year to come.Gen Prayut said the government was also committed to boosting exports, improving the quality of life for all people and promoting meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice) activity.Other policies of the new government include improving and amending laws to ease trade and investment as well as restructuring the tax code to enhance Thailand's competitiveness.Some existing taxes remain relatively high compared with those of other
countries."I do hope once we've solved our internal problems and improved what are deemed as obstacles, foreign investors will come to invest in Thailand and Asean," Gen Prayut said. He reiterated that exports remained the key driver of the economy and pledged to recover Thailand's leadership in the global rice market.With rice prices trending lower, the prime minister said the government needed prudent and appropriate management to carry out the sale of existing state rice stocks.After halting rice sales to carry out nationwide stock inspections, the military regime on Aug 7 resumed sales of 167,000 tonnes of rice that the Yingluck Shinawatra government had stockpiled under the failed rice-pledging scheme.The junta in July vowed to sell an average of 500,000 tonnes a month from state stocks and dispose of the existing 18-million-tonne surplus within three years through four channels — general auctions, government-to-government sales, direct sales and the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand. Thailand regained its position as the world's top rice exporter in July with shipments of 940,691 tonnes, up by nearly 40% year-on-year, on strong demand for white rice from African countries that usually imported parboiled rice.Thailand in the first seven months of this year exported 5.62 million tonnes of rice, up by 55% year-on-year, fetching 90.9 billion baht, up 20.6%.Benin ranked as the top importer of Thai rice with the purchase of 689,329 tonnes, up by 55.7% year-on-year, followed by China (338,170 tonnes, up 227%), Ivory Coast (325,558 tonnes, up 68.2%), Nigeria (321,955 tonnes, up 467%) and Cameroon (281,905 tonnes, up 190%).Last month's export figure is estimated at 900,000 tonnes.Thai rice prices have decreased to a highly competitive rate, and the government is negotiating with major export markets to purchase more rice.Full-year rice exports are forecast at 10 million tonnes.